


Season Three Missing Moments

by NoirAngel011



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: 80's Music, Bathroom Chats, Best Friends, Bonding, Brother-Sister Relationships, Childish fun, Comic, Coming Out, Dancing, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Epic Friendship, F/M, Flashbacks, Friendship, Funerals, Gay, Gay Character, Girl Power, Grieving, Hairspray, Happy Ending, Hats, Healing, Heart-to-Heart, Heartbreak, Ice Cream, LGBTQ Character, Lesbian Character, Lovey-Dovey, Missing Scene, Photographs, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rainbows, Sad, Sappy, Scoops Ahoy, Season 3 Finale, Shopping, Shopping Malls, Sibling Bonding, Sleepovers, Slow Dancing, Snowcones, Spoilers, Summer, Sunshine - Freeform, Supportive Best Friend, Swear Words, Tag, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-15 16:39:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 6,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19621702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoirAngel011/pseuds/NoirAngel011
Summary: Some missing moments before, during, and after season three of Stranger Things 3.SPOILERS AHEAD!!





	1. Pre Season: Robin's First Day

**Author's Note:**

> All prompts are welcome! I have a few chapters I'm working on for this but if you have an idea drop it in the comments below! Once again, Spoilers lie ahead. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!

Pre Season 3- Robin's First Day

"And this, is your co-worker. Steve" The tall man with the bald head pointed over to a boy scooping ice cream for a couple of kids.

"Steve Harrington?" She asked, walking over to the guy. He turned to look at Robin. Sure enough, it was Steve 'the hair' Harrington.

"Do I know you?" He asked as he passed a chocolate ice cream cone to a redheaded girl. She stared at him in awe.

"No, but I know you. Everyone knows you, Steve" Robin crossed her arms over her chest. Great, she would have to work with this douche all summer.

"Good to know, you working here for the summer?" He walked into the back room and grabbed a bucket of strawberry ice cream, taking out the empty one and replacing it before chucking the bucket into the trash.

"Yep, can't wait." Robin was very sarcastic with her answer. Steve glared at her before he scooped another cone.

"Grab the sprinkles, " Steve told her. Robin scooped them up off the counter and handed them to Steve. He put them on the cone and handed it to the other boy.

"We're meeting at your place tonight, " the redhead said, licked her ice cream. Steve stared at her.

"Great, you shitheads better not break anything. I'm working til' close, " Steve shut the cooler with the ice cream. Robin gave him a confused look.

"What's your name?" He asked, looking at Robin.

"Robin, " she said simply, still looking between the pair of kids and Steve, trying to find the correlation.

"Robin, meet Max and Lucas. Max and Lucas, meet Robin." He pointed between the kids and her. She still wasn't entirely sure who was who.

"Hi, Robin. Nice to meet you. Come on Lucas, let's go clothes shopping!" The girl, who must be Max by process of elimination, grabbed Lucas's hand and pulled him out of the shop. Lucas groaned but followed her.

"Why are you friends with some middle schoolers?" Robin leaned back against the counter.

"I babysit them, not friends with. Those are just two of them, " Steve stopped wiping down the counter to address her, before going back to work. 

"Just two of them? How many are there?!" Robin was now officially weirded out by Steve.

"Six, " He said simply, chucking the rag into a nearby bucket before going into the back room. She followed him. The shop was empty at nine am and she had nothing better to do.

"You run around with six kids, " Robin asked him, dumbfounded.

"No, I drive them places and pick them up and watch them when their parents are busy. It's babysitting, not running around with them, " Steve argued.

Robin wasn't having it. "That's the definition of 'running around with middle schoolers' not babysitting." 

"They're actually in high school next year so, not the definition of 'running around with middle schoolers'." He put air-quotes around her sentence.

"Still, you 'babysit' six kids all the time?" It was Robin's turn to air-quote him.

"Well, actually four. One went to summer camp and the other is on vacation with her dad" Steve sprayed down the whiteboard, cleaning it off even though it wasn't dirty at all.

"Okay then, " Robin sat up on the counter and watched him work.

That's when the bell rang outside, signaling a customer. Robin took that as a chance to get away.

Yep, this was going to be a long summer.


	2. Flashback: Heart To Heart With Snow Cones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A flashback scene I imagine could take place when Billy is in the sauna and Max is talking to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this moment, I'm going with the book that Max and Billy met when they were teens instead of as young children like in episode seven.

Flashback- Heart To Heart With Snow Cones

"Green? You're disgusting."

"What? It's better than your orange crap."

"Did you really just go after orange popsicles?" Billy joked with Max. She smiled lightly.

"Any fruit that's named after its color I can't trust." Max shook her head and took another bite of her snow cone.

Billy laughed at that. He reached over and ruffled her red hair pulled up in a ponytail.

"What's the green anyway? Kiwi?" Max giggled.

"No, that's stupid. It's lime, duh, " Max said, rolling her bright blue eyes.

"If it's so bad then why don't you try it?" Billy held out his snow cone to Max. She looked up at him before leaning forward and taking a bite.

"You have weird tastes, " Max said. She leaned against the railing of the front porch of their new house. She could hear the waves crashing on the beach in the background.

"How do you do that?" Billy asked, watching her take another bite of her snow cone.

"Do what?" She looked at him with confusion in her eyes.

"Bite it. Doesn't it freeze your mouth?" Billy licked his snow cone again. She shook her head.

"That's how my dad always ate it. I guess I picked it up from him" Max shrugged her shoulders, looking out across the yard.

Billy stayed silent. Max never talked about her dad. She hadn't seen him in over a month.

"You know what Max?"

"What?"

"We're family now. And I think we're going to get along"

"Really?"

"Yep."

"Well, maybe we can."

"Green is still the best" Max smiled. Billy laughed and she followed suit.

"Whatever you say, Little Red."


	3. Episode 4: Dads Give The Best Hugs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A moment from the beginning of episode 4. Max and El have a chat about dads.
> 
> Kinda out of place here, but I only had so much to work with.

Episode 4- Dads Give The Best Hugs

El came over and crawled into bed beside Max. Max was flipping through a comic absentmindedly. El looked over at her nightstand and noticed a picture.

The shot was of a girl who looked like a younger version of Max and an older man. They were standing on a hill overlooking a beautiful ocean. They weren't looking at the camera and had their backs turned. Max was looking through a telescope while the man looked up at the sky.

El reached over and grabbed the frame. Max looked up from her book.

"Is that your dad?" El asked. Max looked at the picture with distant eyes. She reached down slowly and took the frame from El, bringing it down into her lap. She looked up at El.

"Yeah. He is" Max nodded her head sadly.

El stayed silent for a few moments longer. Max handed the picture back to El and she placed it back in its spot.

"Was he a good dad?" El asked. They were sitting next to each other in Max's bed, not saying a word. Max looked... something but El couldn't place her finger on it.

Max took a shaky breath before answering. 

"Yeah. He was the best. Every Sunday he would make us chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes. On days when I didn't have school, he would take me to the office with him. Every year on my birthday he would sneak into my room and decorate it with balloons and streamers. He would buy me ice cream every Friday after school. We would walk down the boardwalk for hours just talking. He was amazing, " Max let out a sigh.

"That sounds awesome." El looked up at the ceiling and noticed the tack-on stars. 

"Do you love him still?" El asked. Max didn't ever talk about her home life of her life back in California. El wanted to know what normal life was like. She was glad Max was opening up to her when she was normally so sealed off. The only person she knew who Max opened up like this to was Lucas.

"Of course I do. I miss him a lot too. I was supposed to go home for the summer but money was tight especially after we just moved houses and we couldn't afford it. I don't ever really get to talk to him because of the long distance but sometimes we do. I definitely still love him though" Max reached behind her and grabbed her pillow, hugging it in her lap.

"Did you ever not love him?" El looked at Max intently, trying to read her emotions.

"What?! No. I mean, sometimes I don't like him, but I never didn't love him. I got mad at him and thought I hated him. But that was stupid and heat-of-the-moment stuff. At the end of the day, I always love him" Max looked around her room, focusing on random objects.

"Me too then, " El leaned back against the bed frame.

"What?" Max turned to look at her.

"Hopper. Sometimes I don't like him but I always love him, " El said as she looked up at Max with those big doe eyes.

Max giggled. "Yeah."

"And Hop gives the best hugs." El.smiled thinking about his ever-more hugs that were reserved for her and for her only.

"No way, my dad total gives the best hugs ever!" Max laughed as she tried to give El a serious look but ultimately failed. El laughed too.

"Dads give the best hugs, " El said as she sat up and hugged her best friend.


	4. Post Season: Rainbows at Dusk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robin is the guide for Will through his coming out.

Post Season 3- Rainbows at Dusk

It's drizzling rain when Robin walks onto the Byers back porch. It's August, the leaves are just starting to fall. Will is sitting in one of the chairs, staring out across the yard.

"Hey, kid, " she says, sitting down in the lawn chair next to Will.

"Hey, Robin, " Will turns to look at her. Robin smiles, and Will smiles lightly too.

They sit in silence for a few more minutes. The birds overhead chirp and leaves crunch under squirrels' feet as they scurry by.

Everyone else is inside. They were screaming and talking loud as they played board games. Robin had noticed Will slip away a few minutes ago and decided that coming out here was her best chance at escaping what was the crazy of The Party and Co™.

"What was it like?" Will asks. He's twirling a stray brown leaf between his fingertips. Robin looks at him, confused.

"What was what like?" The wind blew Robin's hair back from her face. It's pink and green streaks caught in the light. Steve had dyed it for her a few days ago. Will liked the color, it expressed her personality. Screamed: I'm not taking anybody's shit.

"What was it like when you realized you liked girls."

 _Oh._ Those words hit Robin like a freight train. It reminded her of such dark times. Her parent's reactions to her coming out. The slaps across the face anytime she screwed up. The insults, _fag; queer; dyke._

"It was..." Robin trailed off.

"It wasn't right away. It was little things here and there. It started when I thought that Tracey Adams' eyes were really pretty. Then when Whitney Cooper picked up my pen for me and put fingers touched. It was in the tenth grade that I came put to my parents." Robin left out the parts about her beating herself up over it. The parts about her parents actually beating her.

"Wow. How did people react?" Will looked at her with curious eyes, Robin shuttered under this gaze and at his question.

-Flashback-

Steve dragged Robin into his living room. Everyone was there, looking at her expectantly. They were waiting for something.

El looked on edge and excited. Max looked genuinely curious. Lucas, Mike, and Dustin all wore the face of betrayal. Jonathon, Nancy, and Joyce just looked expectant. Will looked sheepish.

"Everyone, Robin has something to tell you." Steve pushed her a step forward, clearing his throat.

"Uh- Steve? What do I have to tell everyone?" Robin looked back at him with a weirded out expression on her face.

Steve coughed. Robin caught the words "come out" under his breath. Her breath hitched.

Robin held her hands behind her back, rocking on her toes. Steve grabbed her arms and pulled her down to the floor so she was level with everyone else.

"Well, I wanted to tell you all..." Robin looked nervous and glanced back at Steve. There was fear in her eyes. She was terrified of being rejected by everyone in the room.

"Go on, " Steve urged. He gave her a reassuring smile and she nodded before turning back to the kids. His hand never moved from her arm and held her steady.

"That, I'm a lesbian, " Robin couldn't look any of them in the eyes. She felt her eyes stinging with tears as the room stayed silent. She lowered her head, a tear falling into her lap. Steve wrapped his arms around her.

If she had looked up Robin would have seen a confused El, a relieved Jonathon and Nancy, an ecstatic Joyce, a stunned Dustin, a shocked Mike, and a smirking Lucas. But the best reaction of all was Max's huge smile as her eyes sparkled with acceptance for her friend.

-Flashback End-

Robin coming out to the party had been amazing, but coming out to her family, not so much. Her father had screamed at her, her mother had slapped her, and her older brother Austin who had shoved her up against the wall and yelled all types of slurs at her. That's the reason she had been so scared to come out to the party. Steve had been easier, they had still been kind of loopy.

"They were... mean" she put it lightly. Robin pursed her lips as the rain started to pick up harder.

"But they came around after a while. Once the realized that I wasn't going to change who I am because they told me to they started to not really be nice, they more just didn't care." 

Will looked at Robin in awe.

"I think I like boys," Will muttered, looking down at the ground. Robin snorted.

"Yeah, I figured, " she giggled. Will looked up at her.

"How do I tell people?" Will asked. Robin tore her eyes away from the sunset and over to Will.

"Just, be yourself. And don't let them bring you down. You are who you are and they can't change that." Robin reached over and took Will's hand in her own.

"And if anybody gives you shit, They'll have to answer to me." She had a Chesire cat smile on her face. Will smiled too.

"Look, " Robin pointed up at the sky.

"A rainbow, " Will said as he looked up in amazement. The fading sunlight glimmered through the light rain creating the perfect rainbow across the sky.

"Just for us." Robin hugged the younger boy, watching the rainbow together.


	5. Post Season: Black Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hopper's funeral.  
> That's it. That's the story.

Post Season 3- Black Flowers

El and Mike walked through the remains of the cabin. They stood in silence as they searched for anything they could salvage. Most of the cabin still stood and El walked into what was once her bedroom. Her radio was completely smashed and papers had flown everywhere.

She picked up a drawing she had made. It said Mike and was covered in pretty flowers. She ripped it to shreds.

Mile walked around the cabin picking up random objects and setting them back down. They were supposed to be finding things to put inside Hopper's coffin but their attempts led to a fruitless search.

El walked into Hopper's bedroom. The room still smelled like him. A tear fell down her cheek. Mike joined her in the bedroom.

After about an hour they left the cabin, headed back to Steve and Robin waiting in the car down the path.

Three days later El dressed up in a long black dress Nancy had left her, pulled her hair back with a black head and slipped on an old pair of Mary Janes from Robin.

She stood in front of the shiny brown coffin. Dr. Owens had bought it but they didn't have a body so it was being filled with objects that reminded people of Hopper. Carefully, El laid down the record Hopper used to always play. 

"And you don't mess around with Jim," El remembered the words like they were etched into her brain. 

Everyone stood solemnly in the graveyard. Mike held El's hand as she tried to keep herself from breaking down bawling. Max stood on her other side, her arm around the brunette's shoulders in a comforting gesture.

El still couldn't believe it. She still couldn't believe he was dead. It was just so hard for her.

After the ceremony, they walled inside for lunch. El picked at her food and ignored everyone. People came up to her and wished her the best and she wanted to punch them. Why couldn't she just be left alone?

El knew she would never be the same without Hopper. And it was going to be very difficult to heal.


	6. Episode 1: Tacky Hair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy and Max have a moment about hair before she leaves for Dustin's

Episode One- Tacky Hair

"You use so much hairspray you're going to melt the ozone." Max coughed as Billy sprayed his hair.

"You use so much gel you're going to clog the shower drain, " he fired back at her. She growled.

"I barely use any hair gel. You go through half a bottle of hairspray per day." Max crossed her end as she leaned up against the bathroom door frame.

"I do not!"

"You do too!"

"It's not hurting you so why do you care?"

"You're giving me second-hand hairspray fumes! That shit is worse than smoking." Max's face was the picture of disgust.

"Well, I could just stop using it and not get all the ladies and then I would be home all the time. Would you like that?" Billy slammed the can of hairspray down on the bathroom counter. 

Max scoffed. "Please, you hardly get any ladies in the first place. Your hairspray is not the deciding factor for women."

Billy went back to spraying his hair and Max stayed silent. Three minutes later he was still spraying.

"Who are you? Steve?" Max spoke up. Billy threw the can of hairspray at her. She ran away laughing.

But Billy was smiling too.


	7. Post Season: You Look So Stupid In That Hat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robin and Steve go shopping and Steve finds a hat.

Post Season 3- You Look So Stupid In That Hat

Robin and Steve walked through "The HillBerry Mall" in silence. Well, Robin walked and Steve dragged his feet behind her. She needed new clothes for school starting soon and since Starcourt had you know, blown up, they had to go to towns over to shop. Robin had dragged Steve along because she didn't have a car and there was no way in hell she was taking the bus.

Robin held a Payless bag in her hand. Her old sneakers had gotten chewed up by her ever-so-loving-thing-from-nightmares dog. So she had just bought new ones. She was dragging Steve in The Gap next.

They walked around for what felt like hours to Steve, but was only about twenty minutes.

"How many things do you have to try on?" Steve complained through the dressing room door while Robin was trying on clothes.

"I've been in here five minutes Steve chill out, " She called back. Steve slumped down in his chair to wait, crossing his arms over his chest.

He eventually got bored and went back out into the store. He walked around the various racks and tables while he waited for Robin to finish.

That's when he saw the hat.

It was a train conductor style hair. Cotton blue with white stripes. He walked over to a mirror and put it on his head. He looked pretty good if he said so himself, and he did. 

Robin came out holding the clothes she was buying. She put the rest on the rack outside the dressing rooms and noticed that Steve had disappeared.

"Steve?" She called quietly, not wanting to scream in the store. She walked out in search of him. 

"Steve! There you are. I thought I told you to stay put, " Robin walked over to Steve, posing in the mirror in his hat.

Steve turned around to face her and that's when she noticed the hat.

"You like my new look?" He asked. She smiled and shook her head.

"No, you look like an idiot! It's so stupid" She held her clothes in on hand and her bag in the other. Steve pouted.

"I like it, " he said, turning back to the mirror. She switched the pay less bag into the I'm a hand as her clothes and grabbed Steve's arm, spinning him around.

"Put the hat back, " her voice was like a mother telling their child that they couldn't get something at the store. Steve obeyed, setting down the hat.

"Good, now let's go pay and get out of here," Robin said, pulling on Steve's arm as they walked up to the register.

Steve complained about the hat the whole way home. Eventually, Robin had enough. A week later Robin and Steve went back to The Gap and bought Steve the damn hat.


	8. Episode 4: Comic Cuddles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another missing moment from Max and El in episode four. This one probably didn't happen in the same universe as the last one but I'll leave it up to your imagination.

Episode Four- Comic Cuddles

"This is Wonder Woman, aka Princess Diana." Max opened her comic book and showed it to El.

El liked being close to Max, she realized. As Max talked about the comic El realized how much she loved Max's voice. She liked how smart Max was. Max was warm as she had an arm wrapped around El.

El laid her head on Max's shoulder. Together she and Max read through the comic book. El had been working with Hopper on learning to read and write for months now. There was always a word though that she didn't know.

El liked it best when Max read out loud. They had started reading just in their head but after El didn't know a word for the fourth time they started reading aloud.

"Ca- cap-" El tried to sound out the word but couldn't. Max giggled.

"Capture." Max pointed to the word on the page. El nodded.

"C-capture" Max smiled warmly when El got the word. They continued reading.

El felt sleepy after twenty minutes. She was dozing off quickly. Max noticed and set down the comic book to the side.

"We should sleep, " Max said. She laid down and El followed suit. Max pulled up the covers. 

"Good night El, " Max whispered, turning out the light.

"Night, Max. Sweet dreams" El replied as she drifted into a deep sleep.


	9. Episode 7: Holy Shit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve's thoughts on Robin's coming out.

Episode 7- Holy Shit

Steve never expected it. He loved her, so so much. She was kind, she was funny, she was smart, and she was so incredible. Steve loved Robin so much.

But to have her say that. It broke his heart into a million pieces.

"I wanted her to look at me, but she wouldn't take her eyes off you, you and your stupid, stupid hair."

Hearing that, hearing the girl he was crushing on say that she was crushing on someone else hurt enough, but the realization of those words is what hurt him the most.

"But Tammy Thompson's a girl?"

"Steve, " Robin's voice was barely above a whisper. She sounded so frightened of his reaction.

"Yeah?" Steve knew if he said the wrong thing, he could lose her forever. He could break her if he said the wrong thing. So he did what was least likely to hurt her, he let Robin do the talking.

When she didn't say anything, Steve panicked. It finally hit him like a freight train.

 _Robin likes girls._ His brain kept telling him. Over and over. Again and again.

"Oh." Steve had no choice but to be supportive. It wasn't hard, because he was so supportive if her. Two years ago and he would have punched her. But now, he was happy that she could feel safe enough to say that to him.

"Holy shit"

When she repeated the words he jumped. Did he really say that out loud?

"That's cool. I mean, really cool, " Steve smiled at her. He placed a hand on her knee and she looked up at him, those big blue eyes shining with pure happiness and acceptance. Robin smiled.

So Steve changed the subject, started talking about Tammy, trying to make her laugh. 

That day, he was heartbroken. But Robin helped glue his best back together with her friendship. A smile from across the table when they went out to eat with the party. The comforting words when he got dumped. Her sheer determination just to stick by his side through everything.

Now, three months later, as he and Robin stacked new release movies on the shelves, he realized just what having a best friend was like.

And he would never have it any other way.


	10. Pre Season: Dancing on Sunshine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A cute Lumax fic because there wasn't enough of them in season three.

Pre Season 3- Dancing on Sunshine

"I'm walking on sunshine, oh yeah, I'm walking on sunshine" The radio sang. Max reached over and slammed it off.

"I can't stand that song. You'd die if you walked on sunshine." She shook her head. Lucas laughed.

Lucas stood up and grabbed her hand. He led her to her feet and led her out the back door of his house. They walked up to a big hill and to a huge field of flowers.

"We can't walk on it but we can dance!" Lucas said, grabbing Max's other hand and spinning her around. Max laughed, her hair sprawling out around her as she twirled.

She wrapped her arms around Lucas's neck. Lucas placed his hands on Max's waist. They swayed slowly.

The sun beat down on them. Max's hair glowed under the light. She laid her head on Lucas's shoulder.

"The sun's nice. It reminds me of California." Max closed her eyes and basked in the sunlight.

"It is nice." Lucas ran his hand up and down Max's back.

She leaned back as they get dancing in the field gently. She locked eyes with him. Lucas leaned forward and laid his lips on Max's. She leaned into the kiss.

"I love you, " she whispered when they broke the kiss.

"I love you too." 


	11. Episode 8: Never Leaving Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robin is utterly mindfucked by the mind flayer. Steve is there to hug her and tell her it's all going to be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said that chapter eleven would be Steve explaining the upside down to Robin, but I changed my mind and am instead pitting it into Dream Team (Steve and Robin are BFFs) so The_Bisexual_from_Hell you can find your request there hopefully before Friday!

Episode Eight- Never Leaving Me

Robin fell to the ground, sobbing. It was all over now. She could hear someone else crying on the lower level. She heard footsteps coming toward her.

"Hey, shhh. I'm here, " Steve said as he wrapped his arms around Robin. He sat next to her on his knees. She fell into him, now bawling into his chest.

That was terrifying. The monster was huge, and everything was so loud with the fireworks and all. Robin actually thought she was going to die multiple times.

"You're safe now. It's over now. Shhhh, " Steve soothed the crying girl. Robin wrapped her arms around his neck and sat in his lap as Steve hugged her back, rubbing a gentle hand up and down her back.

Soon her sobs were tapering off and the adrenaline was fading. Steve carefully stood up, still holding Robin. He was pretty sure that he had thrown up all the drugs but they still seemed to be in Robin's system some.

Steve carried her down the stairs and to the destroyed food court. He tried to keep his eyes averted from Billy, bloody and lifeless on the ground. Max was crying into El's arms too.

It felt so fast, one minute they were crying and staring at all the destruction and the next they were being checked over by doctors. Robin didn't let go of him the entire time.

The paramedics looked Robin over, letting her stay in Steve's arms. No one seemed to notice that they had been on drugs and Steve didn't point it out. He knew they would separate them if they found that out and Robin couldn't take that right now.

So here Steve was. Unemployed, on drugs, dressed like a bloody sailor, and holding his traumatized co-worker.

He scanned the parking lot, looking for the rest of the group. He saw Max and Mike being looked over. El was having her leg wrapped. Nancy and Jonathon were in search of the car keys that had gone missing mysteriously.

"Steve..." Steve almost had a heart attack when he heard Robin say his name. She pulled back slightly so she was looking him in the eye.

"Yeah, Rob?" He ran a hand through her hair. She moved her hands so they were wrapped around his chest instead of his neck.

"What are we doing after this?" Robin asked, moving her head down so it was resting in the crook of Steve's neck.

"I don't know, Rob. But I do know that we're safe now. You don't have to be scared anymore." Steve hugged her to him, not wanting to let his newfound friend go.

"You better never leave me, you dingus, " Robin said, her eyes starting to close as tiredness overwhelmed her.

Steve cracked a smile at the name.

"Never."


	12. Pre Season: Ahoy Matey!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max hangs out with Steve and Robin at Scoops Ahoy.

Pre Season 3- Ahoy Matey!

"Hey, Steve!" Robin watches from the back room window as a red headed girl walks up to the counter. Steve smiles at her.

"Hey, Max! What can I get for you today?" Steve throws out all the customary phrases he normally uses when talking to one of his kids, Robin had learned.

"One scoop of raspberry swirl on a waffle cone please, " Max said, pulling her wallet from her shorts pocket. Steve nodded and scooped up her ice cream.

"That will be one fifty, " Steve said as he held out her cone. She slapped the money down on the counter and took her ice cream. 

"Hey, why don't you hang out with us here for the day? You don't seem very busy." Steve beckoned her back over after she had sat down and pulled out her book. Max rolled her she's and came back up to the counter.

"You just don't want to spend the whole day alone with Robin, do you?" Max licked at her ice cream.

"Maybe. Now get back here." Steve ushered Max back behind the counter and into the back room.

"Robin, your turn. Go scoop that ice cream!" Robin rolled her eyes and walked out, going o serve a couple.

Max sat in the back room with Steve for a while, eating her ice cream and talking.

"What brings you to the mall alone?

"Billy's got a girl and I didn't have plans so Neil made him bring me."

"Hmm. Sounds like a first world problem.

"It really is."

Steve opened the window between the back room and the parlor. Robin turned around and raised her eyebrows.

"Why are you friends with so many kids?" She asked, peering into the room and meeting eyes with Max.

Steve slammed the window shut. Max giggled.

"You two should get together." She took another look of ice cream. Steve's eyes widened.

"No way in hell." Steve shook his head. Max raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Oh, you're head over heels for Robin." Max shook her head. Steve glared at her.

Max sat on the counter are Steve served ice cream, talking about absent-minded things while Robin was in the back doing God-knows-what. 

Steve liked the change of conversation. Robin mostly just insulted them anytime they talked.

Soon Max had to go home and Steve started thinking.

Maybe Max was right. Maybe Robin was the perfect girl for him. All he had to do was win her over. He was Steve Harrington! This was going to be a piece of cake.


	13. Post Season: Children's Curiosity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> El asks Max about curse words. The girls have a few laughs.

Post Season 3- Children's Curiosity

"Max?"

"Yeah, El?" Max turned to look at her best friend, who had just flopped down onto her bed. It was late August and they were having a sleepover at Max's house while her parents were away.

"Who decided what swear words were?" That was not the question Max had been expecting.

"What do you mean?" Max was confused but she thought she knew where this was going.

"Like, who decided that it was bad to say, hell and shit and stuff like that?" El looked at Max with curiosity in her eyes.

"I don't know. They're just bad." Max shrugged and went back to painting her nails blue.

"Then why do we say them?" El rolled over onto her back. Max shrugged again.

"Because people our age think it's cool." Max rolled over and stared u at the popcorn ceiling. El copied her, hands behind her head and knees pulled up.

"Max?"

"Hmmm?"

"Who decided that fuck was like the master swear word?" El asked innocently. 

Max groaned rolled over, laughing into her pillow. Staying serious was hard with El's outrageous questions. El laughed too, though she didn't understand why.

"Never change El, never change." Max giggled as she lifted her head. El beamed. Max reached over and touched El's shoulder.

"Tag! You're it, " She laughed before jumping off the bed and running out of her bedroom. El chased after her, running around the house like they were little kids again


	14. Post Season: We Have Each Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max and El go to each other for comfort.

Post Season 3- We Have Each Other

"Shhh, it's okay. It's okay," El held Max in her arms as she sobbed. They sat next to Billy's body, lifeless. Mike had a hand on El's shoulder and his other hand on Max's back, rubbing it up and down. He wasn't best friends with her but he could still feel bad for her after she just watched her brother be brutally murdered. After they all did. After his sacrifice to save El. After his hero's death.

Max was a broken girl. She always had been. But now, she was shattered and doubted if she could put herself back together. El hugged her and the others ran around, but to Max, everything felt empty.

She would never fix things with Billy. She would never be able to hug him. She would never be able to find comfort in his dark bedroom late at night. She would never get to tell him that she loved him. It was all over now, and Max cried.

Max felt someone lift her up off the ground and away from El and Mike. She heard a soothing voice.

"Hey, come on. We need to get you out of here." Max recognized Steve's voice. She didn't know the comforting hand on her shoulder, small and shaking. She buried her head in Steve's shoulder and cried as she was carried away from the wreckage of the food court.

She sat in the back of an ambulance. She was curled in on herself. Steve had gone off to be checked out by the, he was pretty beaten up. The same hand rested on her shoulder again.

"Hey, it's going to be okay. We're here for you, kiddo" Max looked up to see the tear-streaked, pale face of the girl from Scoops Ahoy, still clad in her uniform.

Robin, Max remembered her name. She smiled lightly, nodding. Robin smiled back before going off to find the others. Max sat there on the edge of the truck, watching the chaos around her.

El came running up, tears falling down her face. She married Max into a hug, shocking the redhead. Max still wrapped her arms around El and hugged her back.

"H-hopper! He's gone!" El chocked out. Max hugged her tighter. This would be so hard for El, Max now realized. She knew what it was like to lose your dad. It wasn't easy and it hurt, it really hurt. She knew this would affect all of Hawkins too.

El and Max sat there, under the moonlight as it got later and later. They had each other now, and they were determined not to lose that.

Max stayed with El at the Byers' house every night for two weeks. She didn't want to go home. Neil was mad and blamed her for Billy dying, and her mom did nothing to help.

So she stayed with El and Will and Jonathon and Joyce. They were all affected by Hopper's death. A body hadn't been found and El was torn up about it.

Max walked into the living room one afternoon. She was holding a comic book. El was sitting on the couch, staring at the TV blankly as some soap opera played.

"Hey, " Max said quietly, reaching out and taking El's hand into hers. El turned and looked at her.

"Hey Max, " El said whispered. Her voice was laced with tears.

"I brought Wonder Woman, " Max showed her the comic. El smiled slightly. She took the comic with careful hands and flipped it open. She and Max read it together.

It was going to be hard, and it was going to hurt, but in the end, Max and El had each other. They had the party to help them too. They had Jonathon and Steve and Nancy and Robin now too. They were going to be okay.

Because they had each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, prompts requests are open!


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